I've been playing with the idea of running a narrower belt on my Savage cafe. first I cut it to 1", then I decided to make one 7/8". I wondered if the skinny little belt would hold up. Kinda wondered whether Suzuki went with such a wide (1-1/2") belt because they felt they needed to, or because of the look. Or both.
Well, I just bought a used belt from a bike that had been running, and I think I answered the question. The belt was beat to crap. Dry rot all over. A pebble had lodged itself between the belt and pulley, and eventually worked it's way all through the belt.
And the darn thing still held together.
So, I'm figuring that if I start with a nice new belt and cut it down, I'll be fine. The extra width is there to have the bike live through cheap ass, clueless  owners who do no maintenance. And it works  

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 09/10/18 at 19:18:56:


Both Suzuki (LS650) and Kawasaki (KZ 440 & KZ750, Vulcan 500)  use the Bando belts on their bikes.  The part number stamped on the Suzuki belt is not a Bando number - but the Suzuki number and is likely proprietary and you can't order it direct from Bando.  You might be able to figure out that the Bando number is.....and then order it from a distributor - you could even order a different width or length.

https://www.bandousa.com/media/uploads/0/54_BUI-1009_IPTP_catalog_Vol_2_9-17.pdf

That was something I have wondered about, Dave. Thanks